This invention relates to a process for hydrocracking gas oil boiling range hydrocarbon feeds to gasoline boiling range products.
Hydrocracking of hydrocarbon feeds to gasoline boiling range products is well known and typically involves contacting a feed with hydrogen under hydrocracking conditions in the presence of catalysts having activity for both hydrogenation and cracking reactions whereby saturation of aromatic feed components, formation of easily removable contaminant-containing products such as water, hydrogen sulfide and ammonia, and cracking of higher boiling feed components to lower boiling products take place.
Typical hydrocracking catalysts contain a hydrogenating metal component such as an oxide or sulfide of a Group VIB or VIII metal deposed on a cracking support such as silica-alumina or a crystalline molecular sieve zeolite. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,649,523 (Bertolacini et al.) discloses hydrocracking in the presence of catalysts containing a combination of Group VIB and VIII metals and/or oxides and/or sulfides thereof as the hydrogenating component and a combination of a large-pore, crystalline aluminosilicate component and a porous component such as alumina, aluminum phosphate or silica as the support component. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,894,930 and 4,054,539 (both Hensley) disclose hydrocracking catalysts comprising oxides of cobalt and molybdenum supported on large-pore crystalline aluminosilicate and silica-alumina.
In copending commonly assigned application Ser. No. 200,536 of Tait et al. filed Oct. 24, 1980, improved catalysts and processes for hydrogen processing hydrocarbon feeds, particularly those of high nitrogen content, are disclosed and claimed. The process of that application involves contacting feed with hydrogen in the presence of a catalyst of improved thermal stability comprising a chromium component, a molybdenum component and at least one Group VIII metal component, and a support component comprising a porous refractory inorganic oxide component and a crystalline molecular sieve zeolite component.
In copending, commonly assigned application Ser. No. 320,866 filed concurrently herewith, Hensley et al. disclose and claim improved catalytic compositions having utility in a wide range of hydrocarbon conversion reactions comprising an active metallic component comprising at least one metal having hydrocarbon conversion activity and at least one oxygenated phosphorus component, and a support component comprising at least one non-zeolitic refractory inorganic oxide matrix component and at least one crystalline molecular sieve zeolite component.
We have now found that certain catalytic compositions according to the aforesaid Hensley et al. application give particularly good results in hydrocracking of gas oil boiling range hydrocarbon feeds. Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an improved process for hydrocracking gas oil boiling range hydrocarbon feeds to gasoline boiling range products. A further object is to provide a process for hydrocracking of such feeds in the presence of the aforesaid catalysts. Other objects of the invention will be apparent to persons skilled in the art from the following description and the appended claims.
In connection with the present invention, it should be noted that phosphorus has been included in the hydrogenating component of catalysts employed in hydrotreating process not involving cracking. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,446,730 (Kerns et al.) and U.S. Pat. No. 3,749,664 (Mickelson) disclose phosphorus-promoted denitrogenation catalysts. Commonly assigned copending application Ser. No. 231,757 of Miller filed Feb. 5, 1981, discloses hydrotreating catalysts comprising a hydrogenating component comprising a chromium component, at least one other Group VIB metal component, at least one Group VIII metal component and a phosphorus component supported on a porous refractory inorganic oxide component. Particularly good results are attained on denitrogenation processes. The cited patents and application do not disclose that phosphorus can be employed to improve performance of hydrocracking catalysts.